Nero
by Leech101
Summary: A mysterious boy from the future travels back in time to the mansion, after the events of season 4 to change the past and save the future while not letting too many spoliers slip to the X-Men. Bad Summary, I know, but please read. Kurtty, Romy etc.
1. Arrival

**Disclaimer: In the following story I only own the character Nero.**

**Unexpected Arrival  
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oOo

Kurt walked along the dark corridors of the mansion, his torch cutting an arc of light through the shadows.

It was late and he should be sleeping, but he couldn't rest; the warm summer weather was playing havoc with his fur. He was hot and itchy under his covers.

So, he'd taken a shower to cool off, but now he was wide awake. When he checked his alarm it was early morning. Kurt sighed, he was very bored, and after that fiasco in Germany his parents wanted him to spend the rest of the summer holidays in America.

He sighed; it wasn't his fault that his watch had broken in the middle of town square. Everyone had panicked and the police had nearly arrested everyone. But, Kurt and his parents slipped away.

Now he was stuck here, while all his friends where away on holiday. So he decided to get a bit of early training in the Danger Room. Kurt smiled, Logan would be proud.

Suddenly Kurt heard a noise like electricity crackling, he swished the torchlight round to face the dark corridor the noise had come from, the crackling got louder and Kurt started heading down the corridor.

"Storm, is dat you?" Kurt called out, there was no reply.

Suddenly a large blast of light blinded Kurt and he was flung back by electricity that singed his pyjamas and fur. Shielding his eyes Kurt cried out, "Vhat in Gott's name is going on?"

The light dimmed and Kurt looked in amazement, the walls were scorched and the air smelt like electricity.

Kurt looked harder and a figure appeared out of the darkness. Kurt didn't know who the boy was, but, quickly noted down any thing he could in case he had to tell the professor if the boy mysteriously exploded away again.

The boy looked to be about Kurt's age and height; he had scruffy brown hair, piercing blue eyes and pale skin. He wore a shirt and jeans that bore many scorch marks and a long black jacket that seemed undamaged.

The boy grinned wildly and looked about like a kid in a toy factory, he staggered to his left and held onto the wall for support, the wild boy looked down at Kurt and grinned.

"Hi Kurt." He said, before falling to the ground unconscious.

**A/N: bit odd so far, but, trust me, this will get a lot better.**

**Please R&R. Thanks! **


	2. Home Bitter Sweet Home

**Disclaimer: **_In the following story I only own the characters Nero and Phantom._

**A/N:**_ I know the first paragraph is a bit cheesy, but I just thought this was the easiest way to say it._

**Home Bitter-Sweet Home**

Only a few moments ago the boy that had arrived unannounced in the Mansion had been standing in an underground bunker. The bunker had been built sixteen years after the boy had arrived in the mansion. For this was no normal boy, he was from the future.

oOo

He walked calmly up to a hulking blue man in a lab coat. The blue monster had been tinkering with a large, chunky disc-like device in the middle of the work bench.

"Hank," the boy said calmly, "Is it finished?"

Hank McCoy turned to face the small boy, the ghost of a smile on his lips. He patted the boy on the shoulder, "Yes Nero. It's finally ready."

oOo

Nero soon found himself standing in the council room, it was based in the largest bunker they could find. The whole world was now littered with these underground hideouts, each one connected by tunnels to the next; an underground city of mutants and humans.

The council room was a large dome-shaped bunker that had been fitted with sound-proof doors. It could hold up to eighty people, but at that point it only held thirteen and they all sat around a large round table. They were the council of Xavier.

The council of Xavier met almost every day to discuss ways of retaking the surface.

Glancing around Nero could recognize the faces in the dim light provided by the overhead lamps. To his left there was Hank, his guardian and protector.

On Hank's right was Evan Daniels, the fearsome warrior, he led a whole army of mutants on frequent raids on the world above.

Next to him were some of the less important members of the council, the fierce Rahne Sinclair, the cynical James Madrox, the mute Pietro Maximoff, the mighty Piotr Rasputin, the timeworn Jason Wyngarde and the hostile Tabitha Smith.

Then there was Laura Logan and her father, the legendary Wolverine. Next to them sat Forge, who had helped Hank build the disc device that now sat in the centre of the council table.

Next to them sat Andrea, better known as the Phantom. Nero let his gaze rest on her. It wasn't too hard; she was the most beautiful person Nero had ever seen. She was only a few years older than him, and few inches taller. They'd been mistaken for brother and sister a few times, since they both had the same unnaturally pale skin tone. Her piercing gaze fell upon him, he quickly looked away embaressed.

His head moved to the chair to on his left, it was empty. He let out a sigh, it were his mother would have sat if she was still alive. She'd gone above ground with Evan and been eliminated on sight.

He looked around at the council, made up of Charles Xavier's friends, enemies and students, the only ones left alive.

His thoughts were interrupted by Wolverine who spoke in his gruff voice, "I don't get it Hank. If this machine works then why haven't you used it to send the kid back already?"

Hank sighed, rubbing his temples; he looked weary and hadn't slept for weeks. Forge spoke for him, "There's no signal down here, the only signal left is above ground, and even that's weak. The only choice we have is to go up."

"I don't remember agreeing to this." Tabitha sneered, "We risk sending him too far back. Maybe I should go instead."

Nero countered, "The reason you didn't agree to this is because you decided not to come to the last council meeting and as for your other points: we all know the risks, that's _why_ we're sending me in, I'm the youngest and if I go too far back I'll stay there until the time is right to act."

An awkward silence descended on the group. Nero wondered quietly if he'd gone too far confronting Tabitha. But, he was shaken from his thoughts by Rahne, "It is clear what we must do. We go above ground."

James looked at her in disbelief, "Really Rahne? You know that's suicidal! What about all the Sentinels?"

Rahne looked back at James and said, "If Nero can change the past it doesn't matter what becomes of us, none of this will have ever happened. Our friends will have never died, we will be making a sacrafice to save them all."

The Council nodded in agreement.

"Then it's decided," Wolverine announced, "We make the final push now. We go up."

**A/N: **_For those of you who don't know their real names the only survivors from the TV show are: Beast, Spyke, Wolfsbane, Multiple Man, Quicksilver, Colossus, Mastermind, Boom-Boom, X-23, Wolverine and Forge and my two OCs Phantom (Andrea) and Nero. It doesn't really matter considering it won't make a massive difference. And we'll find out who Nero's mother and father are along the way._

_Don't hate me if your favourite didn't survive and the fact they all seem OOC, it's because the Sentinels killing everyone they cared about has changed them for the worse._

_I know it's a bit vague too, so for a more detailed explanation; the Sentinel program has gone ahead, killing mutants, but, too keep mutants at bay the Sentinels have decided to kill humans before they can mutate; leaving the whole world's population to hide underground. Forge and Beast have created a machine to send Nero back in time and stop the Sentinels rising to power._

_Please R&R. Thanks!_


	3. One Word

**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing except my OCs, Nero and Phantom_

**One Word**

Nero slowly opened his eyes, the first thing that struck him was how clean and light everything was. Living underground he had grown used to the darkness of shadows and the foul dirt tunnels that ran through the earth connecting the bunkers

He started to take in his surroundings, the walls were all a bright white, he wondered for a second where he was and then he remembered. The machine had worked!

Looking around he realised he was in an old hospital ward, Hank had once shown him pictures of these places, Nero had been unsure if something so nice could have exsisted. He was sitting in a clean bed, breathing in fresh air from the open window, all these things he would never take for granted again.

Looking out of the window he could see a school field. It was full of teenagers his age, playing and talking. One of them tripped over his shoelace and fell over, as he hit the ground he multipled into three people. It took a second for Nero to realise the little boy he was looking at was Mr. Madrox.

He gasped, they'd done it. Hank's crazy plan had worked! He was in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters!

He noticed a newspaper on the side table; he grabbed it and checked the date. Doing some quick calculations he estimated that the X-men had fought Apocalypse about a week ago, if what Hank had told him was true then Xavier had just had a vision of the future.

If Xavier had seen glimpses of the future then that would make things much easier for him to prove where he'd come from and what he had to do.

He suddenly became aware of eyes watching him. He turned around and saw two men had entered his room. The first was an elderly bald man in a wheelchair and the other was…

"Logan!" Nero cried in joy, grinning.

oOo

Wolverine scowled, how'd this boy know his name?

He heard Charles' thought-speak in his head _"Logan? Do you know the boy?"_

"_I've never seen him before in my life, Chuck." _Logan thought back, slowly trying to remember the boy's face, but, he just drew a blank. He was certain he hadn't met the boy before.

"_Is it possible that you met before you lost your memory?"_

"Are you having a psychic conversation?" the boy piped up, "Because that's kind of rude."

Logan's scowl deepened. "Who are you kid, and how'd you know my name?" He asked.

Nero grinned; he stood up, he was wearing a hospital robe and realised that he had some minor burns on his body.

He winced, ignoring the pain and said, "You can call me Nero. And the reason I know your name is because we've met before Mr. Logan."

"When?" Logan asked.

"In a few years time." Nero replied, smiling.

"Is that meant to be some kind of joke?" Logan snarled, getting ready to unsheath his claws. His past was a sore subject, and he wasn't going to let some kid mock him.

"_Logan, calm down. The boy may be confused, he did just appear in the middle of the corridor on a bolt of lightning, and it is likely he has some form of brain damage."_ Xavier's thoughts said.

Xavier wheeled towards the boy and said, "My name is-"

He was cut short by the impetuous youth, "You must be Charles Xavier. I've heard all about you."

Xavier seemed shocked, but soon regained his composure. "Please, tell us how you know all these things. Are you some sort of telepath?"

"Nope," Nero said, "I'm from the future."

Logan snorted, trying not to laugh.

Xavier raised an eyebrow, obviously amused, "Is that so?"

Nero sat down, so he was eye-level with Xavier and he smiled, but not the warm grin that he had before. This was a small sinister smile.

"I can prove I'm from the future with one word." Nero said.

Xavier frowned, leaning forwards. He had seen bits of the future after Apocalypse had been defeated; this seemed to be a sensible way to see if the boy was lying.

Nero motioned for him to come closer and whispered into his ear, "Phoenix."

**A/N: **_Please R&R I want some more reviews before I post the next chapter. Thanks.  
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	4. We Can Only Wait

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs_

**We Can Only Wait**

Wolverine heard Xavier's thought-speak in his head, _"Logan, please leave."_

He sounded panicked and Logan scowled, "Chuck, I think it's best if I stay here."

"Leave now!" Xavier snapped.

Charles Xavier was known as a patient and fair man, so when he started shouting you did what he said.

"I'll be just outside. Shout if there's any trouble." Logan said.

As soon as the door had shut behind him Xavier quickly turned back to the pale young boy.

"So," Xavier muttered sadly, "my visions were true?"

"Yes." Nero replied.

"Then, Jean destroys us all?" Xavier said. He suddenly realised that if Jean was responsible and this boy had come back, that meant.

"If you have come here to kill her, I won't let you!" Xavier said angrily.

"No." Nero said, "It's not Jean's fault."

Now it was Xavier's turn to frown, "Then what does happen?"

Nero sighed, "It is a long, long story."

"I need to hear it." Xavier said.

Nero nodded sadly; staring at the floor he told his story:

"Bolivar Trask managed to escape S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and continue his Sentinel program in secret. He created Master Mold, the X-men defeated him, but, Bolivar escaped again, using the remains of Master Mold he created Nimrod, the ultimate Sentinel. Bolivar sent it after us; we would have won too, if it weren't for Bastion."

"I've had visions of this Nimrod, but, what's Bastion?" Xavier asked.

"He's was a very advanced sentinel, he disguised himself as a human and tricked the public into blaming us for the Phoenix incident. They stormed the mansion, killing everyone; those that were left were eliminated by Bastion and Nimrod. Only thirteen of us got away and joined Evan and the Morlocks. It was then that Nimrod made the final attack against humanity, the Sentinels discovered that the mutant-gene was dormant in every member of humanity, so, to eradicate it forever…"

"The Sentinels killed everyone on the planet." Xavier said.

Nero nodded quietly.

They sat in shocked silence. Xavier taking in everything he'd been told. He finally managed to recover and looked at the boy with pity, the things he'd had to witness.

"Then _why_ are you here?" Xavier asked.

"That's my business." Nero said.

"So," Xavier said formally, "What do you propose we do?"

Nero thought for a while before saying, "Introduce me as a new student, I'll fit in as best I can and when the time is right, I'll do what needs to be done."

"But, what needs to be done?" Xavier said.

Nero sighed; he seemed distant, relieving the horror.

"I need you to understand Professor. This was our last chance, we're not entirely sure if we even _can_ change anything." He explained.

"Well then what do we do first?" Xavier asked.

Nero looked up at the Professor and said, "We wait."

**A/N: **_Please R&R, I hope you like it so far._


	5. Power Talk

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs_

**Power Talk**

Logan, Ororo and Hank sat around the table trying to understand what Xavier had just told them.

"He's from the future?" Storm asked again.

"Yes," Xavier said, "I've read his mind, he's telling the truth."

"This is… amazing." Hank said, "Time travel, can you imagine the possibilities."

"I still say it's all a trick." Logan muttered.

"Maybe," Xavier said, "but if it is it's a very good one, I don't want to delve too deep into his mind, but I can sense a lot of trauma and images to back up his claim."

"Then why did he seem like a normal kid, grinning like an idiot?" Logan asked.

"Because I have hope." A voice said.

They all turned around to see Nero emerging from the shadow the wall cast onto the floor.

"What the… where'd you come from?" Logan asked.

Xavier explained, "That's his power."

"What is?" Logan questioned, becoming increasingly frustrated.

"I have a form of shadow manipulation." Nero explained.

To prove his point he reached out his hand, the shadow that he had emerged from seemed to shift and it started to move away from the wall, twisting itself towards his fingers. When it reached his hand it was in the shape of a sword, if you looked carefully you could see the hilt was decorated and apart from the black aura surrounding it, it looked like it was from ancient Rome or Greece.

"What do you mean a _form_ of shadow manipulation?" Hank asked.

The sword in Nero's hand seemed to disintegrate, like liquid it ran between his fingers, hit the floor and rushed back to its original place.

"In the future, the government found that they could categorize mutant powers into six main groups, to find better ways of capturing and containing dangerous mutants." Nero explained.

"Just sounds like an excuse to find an easier way to exterminate us all." Logan growled.

"That's what you said the first time around as well." Nero said.

"What are these categories?" Hank asked.

"There are hundreds of sub-categories, but there are six main groups: Superpower Interaction, Physical Powers, Mental Powers, Psychics and Reality Manipulation, Transportation and Travel and the sixth one is anything else." Nero said.

"Please, explain further." Hank said eagerly.

"Look can't we continue the science fair later?" Logan asked.

Nero continued undeterred, "Okay, I'll explain best I can:

Superpower Interaction is the ability to mess with other peoples powers, like mimicking them or being able to stop them, or absorb them, like Rouge.

Physical Powers can be anything from healing factors to Invisibility, anything that affects your body directly.

Mental Powers is obviously telekinesis and technopathy, but it can also be mind control or even empathy.

Now Psychics and Reality Manipulation are the really powerful ones, like weather manipulation or my powers.

Transportation and travel is a rather small category, like Nightcrawler it's usually just teleportation or super speed or stuff like that. In fact, we used the genes of a dead mutant with the power to time travel to send me back here.

And fianlly, the hardest mutants to control where the ones that didn't fit itno any of those groups, they had powers like flight and shape-shifting, they where usually just shot on sight."

After a short awkward silence Hank spoke up, "So I'd be a group 2 mutant and you'd be a group 4 mutant?"

"I'm also a group 5," Nero said, "Watch this!"

He ran towards the shadow near the wall and disappeared into it.

"Where'd he go?" Hank asked.

"Over here." Nero said, running out of a shadow on the other side of the room.

"I can move between shadows, so long as it doesn't belong to a living, or I could become tangled into them. And they can't be too far away either, or I might never come out again." Nero explained.

"Well," Xavier said, "I'm sure you'll fit right in."

"Yeah," Nero said, "But, we may have one small problem."

"Just one?" Logan groaned.

"I may have accidently said Kurt's name when I arrived." Nero said.

"So?" Logan asked.

"Well," Nero said, "I'm not supposed to know who he is yet."

**A/N: **_Please R&R, bit of a long explanation I know, but I needed to show what Nero's power was and I needed a way to explain it. Next one will hopefully bring in some more of the students. Hang int here, now I've got that out of the way things will get MUCH more interesting.  
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	6. Teleportation and Shadows

**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing except my OCs, Nero and Phantom_

**A/N: **_Okay. I'm going to try and get back into this one. It may take a while so bare with me._

**Teleportation and Shadows**

oOo

Kurt sat in the living room nervously. He was fidgeting with his watch – leaving it on his human appearance.

He knew the adults were talking to the boy and wanted to listen. He would teleport closer if he wasn't afraid they'd hear the noise. The boy unsettled him deeply. How did he know his name?

Suddenly the door opened and Kurt saw the boy enter the room followed by Hank and the professor. Kurt said nothing.

There was an awkward silence as the two boys looked at one another judgingly. The professor broke the silence and said, "Kurt, this is Nero. He'll be joining us here and we thought it best if you show him around."

Kurt nodded slowly and said, "Jah. I can do zat. Follow me."

oOo

Kurt showed the boy around. The boy unsettled him, he was very quiet. They made it to the garden when Kurt's patience broke.

"Okay," Kurt said, "How'd you know my name?"

"Part of my powers." Nero lied causally, "I get glimpses of stuff."

"Oh really?" Kurt said. He wasn't buying it.

"How else would I know you've got blue fur and a tail?" Nero said.

Kurt frowned; he turned off his watch and said, "Okay, is zat all?"

"No." Nero grinned cheerfully, "I can do this!"

The shadows from the trees suddenly rocketed away from their resting place and connected with the boy's hands creating a rather menacing sword. Nero furrowed his brow in concentration before releasing the sword, which melted quickly and once it hit the ground it raced across the garden back to the trees.

Nero looked tired, but said, "Pretty impressive isn't it?"

"Jah." Kurt said smiling.

"What can you do?" Nero asked casually.

Kurt's doubt started to fade and he smiled, "Vatch this."

Kurt then proceeded to quickly teleport around the garden. He looked back over to where Nero had been standing to find him missing. Kurt suddenly worried he'd lost him. What would the professor say?

But, at that moment Nero burst out the shadows behind him and shouted out. Kurt jumped and accidently teleported to the other end of the garden.

"Gott in Himmel! You frightened me!" Kurt shouted.

Nero laughed and Kurt started to laugh to. Maybe he wouldn't be all alone for the holidays.

**A/N: **_I hope you liked it. Please R&R The next chapter will have the kids arriving back at the mansion._


	7. Too Many Questions

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs_

**Too Many Questions**

oOo

Kitty sighed. The holidays had passed too quickly like they always did. The car journey had been long and dull, eventually the reached the mansion gates. Kitty smiled as she could see her furry blue friend outside the mansion.

"Bye mum. Bye dad." Kitty said quickly, hugging them both.

She heard her mother make an attempt to say goodbye before she phased through the car door and through the gates. She ran up to Kurt.

"Hey Kurt!" she yelled.

Kurt motioned for her to be silent. She frowned he was looking about nervously.

"Is this one of Logan's training exercises?" she whispered.

"No." Kurt whispered, "Logan has gone avay."

"Then what're you doing?" Kitty asked.

"I'm looking out vor ze new kid." Kurt replied.

"What new kid?" Kitty asked.

Suddenly the shadow cast by the fountain sprang out into a tendril; it whipped round Kurt's leg and sent him high into the air. Kitty watched in awe. She saw that Kurt was remaining calm and he teleported away. The tendril seemed to evaporate and the unruly shadow returned to the fountain. Kitty looked about trying to get a find Kurt or the new kid.

She spotted someone inside with blue fur. She ran through the wall and bumped into Hank. "Sorry." Kitty said, "I'm looking for Kurt."

Hank smiled and said, "He's probably still messing around with Nero."

"Nero?" Kitty said.

"The new boy." Hank explained, "They seem to be evenly matched and have spent all summer trying to work out who's the best."

"Is he responsible for the giant shadow tentacle that I saw in the garden?" Kitty asked.

"Yes." Hank said, "Sounds like something he'd do."

"Where is he?" Kitty asked, "They were in the garden but they've moved."

"Your guess is as good as mine. So long as they don't blow up the kitchen again I'm sure they'll be fine." Hank said.

Kitty left and went to sit outside again, watching the gate. It wasn't a great welcome home. She already had too many questions. Who was this new kid? Why had Kurt been at the mansion "all summer"? And what on earth had happened to the kitchen?

**A/N: **_This one was too short I felt. I never do extremely long chapters, but I felt this one could have been a bit longer. Please R&R._


	8. Verdammte Eidechse

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs. My German is terrible; I hope I've got this right._

**Verdammte Eidechse**

oOo

Kitty had spent half an hour hoping someone would turn up but she grew bored and started searching the mansion but hadn't found the elusive boys anywhere. She checked the kitchen and found a massive whole in the wall leading out to the garden.

"_Hank's been trying to fix that._" A voice in her head told her.

Kitty smiled and turned around to see Charles Xavier wheel in. "Hey, Professor. Looks like I've been missing some important stuff."

"Not really." Xavier said, "Just Kurt and our destructive new friend."

"I'm guessing the wall's not the only thing they've broken then?" Kitty asked.

Xavier pondered for a while before saying, "I think Nero burnt down one of the corridors too, but that's not really his fault."

"Why has no one else like, shown up?" Kitty asked.

"There have been some major traffic problems in town." Xavier explained, "You arrived just before they started."

Kitty decided to get some answers now. "Can you find Kurt and this new boy?"

"It's tricky." Xavier said, "It's hard to track a teleporter at the best of times, two is even trickier. I can only try."

Xavier closed his and concentrated. "They're on the roof." Xavier muttered, "Wait, now they've gone into the woods. If you hurry you might catch them."

Kitty wanted to ask a few more questions but ran off, phasing through the wall and rushing through the forest, going through trees as she did so. She eventually spotted a furry blue creature jumping through the trees.

She looked up to see him; he seemed to be running from something, suddenly three small purple winged lizard-like creatures raced through the trees after him. They seemed to leave a trail of smoke behind them. Kitty was about to go after them herself, but spotted someone nearby.

"Hey you!" she shouted out.

The boy looked over at her. Walking over she found the boy was smiling charmingly and said, "Hi, you must be Kitty. I'm Nero."

Kitty nodded. She quickly looked at the boy. He was about the same height as Kurt, probably only a few centimetres smaller and looked much thinner, he had pale skin which reminded her of Rouge. He had shaggy untamed light brown hair and his eyes were a bright light blue colour that looked familiar.

"Will you like, call off the monsters so I can talk to my friend?" Kitty asked.

Nero seemed to look at her his face a look of happiness and sadness rolled into one; he shook himself back to reality and said, "Sure."

He whistled a slow, high pitched tone and two of the dragons rushed back. They vanished into the shadows thrown by the trees; the shadows flashed a deep dark shade of purple before vanishing. The last one let out a small rasping growl.

"Shoot." Nero muttered.

"What's the matter?" Kitty asked.

"Kurt! We've got a rouge dragon!" Nero said.

"I've got it!" Kurt called down from his tree.

Kurt leaped towards the dragon, but it dived out the way. Kitty heard Kurt shout "_Verdammte Eidechse!_" before landing painfully in the branches of the tree opposite.

Nero muttered under his breath and using his hands he seemed to encourage the shadows to start a slow short of dance. They rose up from their resting places and spun around in the air, twisting and shifting to form a large pylon of shadows, it engulfed the small dragon before it vanished flashing the ugly shade of purple again and then dissolved. Kitty looked over at the boy to see him looking even paler than he'd been before.

"Like, are you alright?" Kitty asked.

"Like, yeah." Nero mocked.

"I could use an ice-pack!" Kurt shouted from the tree.

**A/N: **_Please R&R_


	9. Not Enough Answers

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**Not Enough Answers**

Kurt had come back from medical where he'd been treated for falling face first into a tree. Kitty found it amusing that they got beaten up by evil forces every day and had been taught to always stay aware of their surroundings, yet still Kurt never looked before he leaped.

Kitty sat by the fountain with Kurt and Nero waiting for the others to arrive. It looked like they'd worn themselves out. Now they'd stopped fighting she might be able to get some answers.

"So," Kitty said as causally as she could to Nero, "is Nero, like, your real name or just a nickname?"

"Nickname." Nero said.

Kitty noticed he seemed to tense up, his beaming grin was replaced by stern features.

"So, what is your real name?" Kitty prodded.

"He's not aloud to tell uz." Kurt said, "Za Professor iz keeping it quiet."

"Why, did you do something bad?" Kitty asked.

Nero didn't reply.

"Fine," Kitty said, "I know, like, you can't tell us, but can you at least tell me what happened to the kitchen?!"

Nero's smile returned and Kurt began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Kurt placed some firecrackers under my chair during breakfast." Nero said, "I panicked and the shadow beneath my chair kind of…exploded. It sent them flying around the room, into people's food, blowing everything up. I lost control and…remember one of those tendril things I made earlier?"

Kitty nodded.

"Well," Nero continued, "I made one of those and it punched a hole through the wall."

"Ja," Kurt said, "Five centimetres away from Logan's head!"

Kitty stifled a giggle she realised the problem with the situation, Nero's powers were unpredictable and possibly dangerous, but she couldn't help but laugh.

"_Nero,"_ a voice said in their heads, _"Could you please come to my office?"_

"Great," Nero grumbled as he got up, "What've I done now?"

Kitty watched him fade into the shadow thrown by the fountain as he used it to get to the professor's office.

Kitty turned back to Kurt, Nero had to keep quiet, but surely Kurt could tell her.

"Do you know what he did?" Kitty asked.

Kurt shook his head, "Nien, he just appeared out of nowhere."

Kitty frowned, "Like, how'd you mean?"

"Vell," Kurt said, "it vas the middle of da night. Und der vas a blast of electricity und zen he appeared."

"That makes no sense." Kitty said, "Haven't you asked him anything about it?"

"Between him beating the snot out of me? Ja! But, he von't answer." Kurt said.

"Well then," Kitty said, "that's like our mission for this year, find out more about him."

"Kitty," Kurt said, "I… I… don't zink dat's very nice. Give him some privacy."

Kitty knew that her furry friend was right, but she felt very nosey and though he seemed like a nice kid, there's was something unsettling and familiar about Nero that she wanted to get to the bottom of. However, if Kurt was unwilling to help she'd have to be sneakier.

"Okay," She said, "I won't pester him about it."

"Danke." Kurt said.

After a while sitting in silence and enjoying the glorious sunshine they were having Kitty asked, "Hey, Kurt. Do you think we'll get any new people, y'know besides Nero?"

"I don't know." Kurt said, "Maybe. Ve did just stop da end of da vorld, that's got to increase our popularity, right?"

Kitty nodded. It looked like Kurt and Nero would be hanging out for the rest of the year. She guessed Bobby and Sam would cause mischief, Jamie would probably roam around looking for someone to play with, Amara and Roberto would bury their heads in books, Ray would keep to himself and Rouge would be as anti-social as ever.

Kitty sighed; they were likely to run into Lance at some point. She hadn't spoken to him since the Apocalypse. She almost laughed aloud at how stupid that sounded.

Suddenly a car pulled up. She and Kurt stood up to see who was arriving. They were disappointed to see Ororo step out of the car.

But, Kurt and Kitty gasped as they saw the two men step out of the car behind her. One was a giant, muscle-bound with cold, emotionless features. His broad shoulders making it difficult for him to get out of the car and as he did so you could hear it strain and creak under his weight. He was wearing a suit and as he got out of the car he put on a pair of black shades.

The second man was dressed more casually. He wore his long brown coat, a purple shirt underneath, his beard had grown and he'd started to grow a small moustache. His hair was untamed as well – having reached shoulder length. He smiled as he spotted Kitty and Kurt staring at them and he grinned his red pupils twinkling from his black eyes.

"Colossus!" Kitty whispered fearfully to Kurt.

"Gambit!" Kitty replied.

**A/N: **_Please, please, PLEASE R&R. Reviews inspire me to keep going. ;)_


	10. Dark Mind

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**Dark Mind**

Xavier waited impatiently in his office. Usually he was a very patient man. But since they'd stopped Apocalypse it seemed that his patience was being tested. He had no choice but to wait for Jean to become the Phoenix Force, wait for Erik to see reason, wait for Bolivar Trask to make his next move and he had to have constant patience for the immature boy from the future that seemed to have only come back to cause endless property damage.

Nero phased out of the shadows quietly. The smile that had been on his face all summer vanished in an instant. "What's the matter?" Nero asked.

"I just want to make sure we've got the story straight for when the other students arrive." Xavier said.

"I never knew my parents. I've kept my head low in an orphanage and I was recently involved in a big problem involving my powers; I'm not aloud to tell anyone my real name because if the wrong people hear it I'll be arrested. My cover name at school is Jack Daniels." Nero repeated.

"Good." Xavier sighed.

"Jack Daniels?" Nero complained, "Isn't that a beverage?"

"Just stick to the plan and everything should go smoothly." Xavier said.

"I feel you called me in here to talk about more than my cover story again." Nero sighed pulling up a chair.

"Yes," Xavier said, "Firstly, we have some new members to the staff - Rémy Etienne LeBeau and Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin."

"Gambit and Colossus!" Nero cried – his smile returning.

"Yes," Xavier said, "please try to refrain from revealing that you know them. The only reason they're coming here is because you put in a good word for them. They both need to hide from Magneto and this is the safest place for them."

"This is good," Nero said, "already I've sped up their arrival – that means I can change things and we can stop Bolivar!"

"Yes," Xavier said, "I've already sent Logan to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Base where Bolivar Trask is held to provide extra security and since Fury took over the Sentinel program we need a man on the inside to monitor what's going on."

"That all?" Nero asked, "I'm eager to greet our new guests."

"No," Xavier said, wheeling forwards slightly, "Jean's power grows every day and I need to make sure she won't accidently find out about what'll happen to her. That knowledge could speed up the process. I'll have to place some mental blocks."

Nero nodded and took a deep breath as Xavier concentrated and plunged into his mind…

oOo

Xavier didn't like rummaging through the boys mind. His mind was dark and there was a sense of foreboding and despair t every turn. Xavier didn't really want to look too much at the images that passed by, but he couldn't resist a glance. He immediately regretted it.

He could see nothing but tunnels, dark and dirty, he spotted an aged version of Hank. His fur greying and his old friend looked weary and desperate.

It was like a car crash – Xavier couldn't look away. Hank was holding some sort of device and was surrounded by people whose faces were shrouded in darkness. Hank silently motioned upwards towards the surface and he opened a hatch and Nero felt a breeze. Xavier felt pity as he realised this was one of the rare moments that Nero had ever seen the outside world. The small group proceeded quietly for a short while and he could recognise the two people ahead of Nero – Rahne and Jamie. They were young adults and they looked bitter and both had large battle scars visible.

Suddenly the moon's light was blocked out by a huge shape – a sentinel. A ray of death exploded from its hands - Rahne and Jamie disintegrated before his very eyes, reduced to skeletons and dust.

He heard Hank shout out, "Run!" and they were running, glancing left and right – dodging beams of death. Nero was pushed aside by – was that Tabitha Smith? It didn't matter as a second later a mammoth foot crushed her, only her arm stuck out from beneath the machinery and as it pulled away it revealed her remains – like road kill. Xavier felt sick.

"_You really don't want to delve too deep into my memories. Believe me until recently I've not had anything to be happy about."_ Nero's voice echoed through his head.

Xavier backed away from the memory like it was the plague. He hurriedly went to the source of the memories about Jean and put up a mental gate – hopefully strong enough to stop Jean for now. He blocked off all other memories that Nero had – replacing them with fakes that only Nero and himself would know as false.

When he was finished Xavier was glad of his handy work. By the time Jean could break the barriers he'd set up she'd be too powerful to prevent the Phoenix force anyway. With that Xavier pulled out of Nero's mind…

oOo

"Are we all good?" Nero asked – smiling again.

"Yes." Xavier said, still trying to shake the image of Boom-Boom lying dead in the rubble.

"Great." Nero said.

"Sorry I couldn't help peeking at… well whatever that was." Xavier said.

"Don't worry," Nero said, "you're lucky you found one of the less gruesome ones."

Xavier shuddered. He feared that Nero wasn't lying.

He was thankful for the distraction when he heard a familiar noise – BAMF! He turned to see Kurt standing across the room as Kitty ran through the wall.

"What's the problem?" Xavier said, regaining his composure.

"I think ve are under attack!" Kurt shouted.

**A/N: **_Sorry for all Boom-Boom fans out there. I did put the rating high because of gruesome death. But, don't worry – remember Nero's here to stop all that happening. But, he's likely to go on the ultimate time traveller sightseeing trip ever first. Please R&R if you're still reading._


	11. Dark Thoughts

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**Dark Thoughts**

The professor explained to Kitty and Kurt that Gambit and Colossus would be joining the school and had abandoned Magneto's insanity. As this happened Nero snuck into the shadow thrown by a nearby bookcase and vanished.

He wasn't particularly fond of teleporting but he'd grown used to it. He'd step into a shadow and feel the cold chill of a dark universe as he travelled through it at break-neck speeds, he slowed down long enough to concentrate on where he was headed and slowly faded out of a shadow there.

By now he was an expert at it, but when he was first trying he was terrible. He'd be heading for the bathroom and end up in the shopping mall. Andrea used to laugh at that. Nero sighed, he'd realised that if he managed to change that then none of that would have happened.

Nero and Hank had talked about it for countless months before he'd left to travel back in time. If he managed to change things – which he now knew he could – there was the danger of him changing things for the worse.

Nero was determined to ensure his parents got together – and Andrea's too for that matter. Though he was unsure how he planned to play cupid. Maybe he could just sit back and watch things work out.

It would be years until Bastion was a threat that was why they'd sent him back. Because he was the youngest and wouldn't be recognized he could mingle with the students the best.

Nero did however fear meeting his younger self. He was certain that would change him. What he and hank had worried about the most was if Nero could stop Bastion what would happen next.

Nero went back in time to stop Bastion and if he succeeded there would be no reason for him to have travelled back in time in the first place. It was a paradox that Nero and Hank had fretted over for an age.

Eventually Hank decided one of two things could happen:

1. The universe opened a paradox and destroyed everything.

2. The universe erased Nero, but let the rest of the new reality continue without problem.

3. The changes would create an alternate dimension where Nero and reality could continue in harmony.

Nero had never truly understood any of it. All he knew is that options one ended in death for everything. Option 2 would mean Nero would disappear because he didn't need to go back in time. And Option 3 was the only way the universe would keep both Nero and everyone else alive. Hank had said that Option 3 was the least likely.

Nero had contemplated this and had accepted that any of those things where better than the world being run by Sentinels, even if he had to die for it.

oOo

Nero faded out of the shadows in the garden. He saw Gambit and Colossus approaching and he smiled as he shook the dark thoughts from his head.

Ororo led them in through the gate and said, "Nero could you show them around. I have to talk to Hank about something."

"Sure." Nero said.

Nero turned to the two men standing in front of him. They both seemed somewhat awkward.

"What a warm welcome." Remy muttered sarcastically.

"Can you blame them for running off?" Piotr sighed, taking off his shades.

They'd both seen Kurt and Kitty run off at the sight of them.

"I'll show you around then." Nero said, grinning quietly at the sight of them.

"Good," Piotr said, "but I was told that my-"

"_She will be here soon Piotr."_ A voice echoed through their heads.

Piotr nodded and put his shades back on.

**A/N: **_This should be the last confusing one for a good long while. I may be unable to update for some time, but please hang in there and please, please, please review._


	12. Gambit's Tale

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**Gambit's Tale**

Nero walked briskly around the mansion showing Colossus and Gambit the various bedrooms, classrooms and bathrooms that made up the grand Xavier mansion. Gambit was on edge. He glanced around – absorbing information while trying to stop his own paranoia.

He couldn't help it; he'd been raised not to trust people. Since he'd abandoned the acolytes he'd feared Magneto would come after him – though this was yet to happen he'd been glancing over his shoulder constantly for the past few months. The professor had approached him and offered him safety from Magneto and he'd have been a fool to deny such an offer.

He'd been incredibly uncomfortable in the car journey. Storm had silently sat in the front – making little conversation, Gambit hadn't expected any. What made Gambit so nervous was sitting next to the hulking Piotr Rasputin. His ex-team mate had never really spoken to him and didn't look ready to start now. It had been a ridiculously awkward moment – sitting in silence for several hours without so much as a radio being turned on.

Then when he finally got at his sanctuary, the children ran at the sight of him. He felt slightly hurt but was kind of pleased they feared him – the last thing he needed was a bunch of kids following him around.

But this new boy made him suspicious – Gambit had never fought him before and wondered why he'd been selected to lead them around. Gambit cringed – perhaps it was because of his sickeningly wide grin that seemed plastered to his face. Or maybe he was using his powers to probe their minds.

Gambit quickly shook those thoughts from his head. It was probably because the boy didn't realise how dangerous he was yet.

Remy was shaken from his thoughts when he realised the boy had suddenly opened a door and banked inside.

"This is a basic bedroom – you'll get similar ones, but, singles." Nero said.

Remy entered the large bedroom it had two beds inside and it was obviously belonged to two girls, as the first half was decorated in several bright pink objects. Remy noticed the other side had an odd gothic feel that was familiar.

"Whose room is this?" Remy asked.

"Um… Kitty and Rouge's." Nero replied, pretending that he had to think carefully for the answer.

A small smile played on gambit's lips. He'd almost forgotten Rouge was one of Xavier's students. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad here after all.

**A/N: **_Sorry this one took such a long time to get around to, I went on a big family holiday to a small coastal town and I found that there was no Wi-Fi for miles around. I've been cut off from civilisation and only just got back today! I plan to update this then speed read through all my favourite websites and the news to reintegrate myself into society. _

_Tell me what you thought. I've got to get back into the swing of this so support is greatly appreciated. As always - R&R._


	13. Piotr's Tale

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**Piotr's Tale**

Piotr wasn't sure why he was being shown to the bedroom to a couple of students. He supposed he must have fought them before – maybe Xavier had intended for him to apologise.

But, as he looked over Piotr saw the eerily cheerful boy give Gambit a meaningful look. Perhaps this side-tracking was more for LeBeau than it was for him.

oOo

After several minutes they arrived at Gambit's room.

"Doesn't the professor want to see me?" Gambit asked.

"I'm sure he'll call when he wants if he wants to talk." Nero replied, pointing a finger to his head.

Gambit nodded curtly before closing the door.

"Your room is down here." Nero said.

Piotr nodded politely and followed him down the corridor in silence.

"You don't talk much do you?" Nero stated.

"Not much to talk about." Piotr replied.

"Well your rooms on the other side of the mansion and walking around in silence reminds me too much of home." Nero said, "Your home's in Russia isn't it?"

"Yes." Piotr said, "I lived on a farm with my mother, father, brother and sister. Most of them have… passed away."

"I know the feeling." Nero thought to himself.

Piotr watched as a young girl ran through the wall right in front of him. She glanced at the hulking figure before her and squealed slightly before running through the wall on the opposite side.

"That's Kitty." Nero said, "Wait here a second, she's just not used to you... being one of the good guys."

"People do usually find me intimidating." Piotr said.

"Tell me something I don't know." Nero said as he ran headfirst into the shadows of the wall and faded away into it as if it were inky black fog.

Piotr knew that stuff like that shouldn't surprise him anymore, but it was hard not to appreciate the amazing gifts some people possessed.

oOo

After a short wait Piotr heard a loud BAMF! He immediately ducked – believing it was gunfire. He looked up to see the boy from earlier, the girl that could walk through walls and the furry blue thing that he'd seen on the battlefield several times.

"Maybe I should have used the door?" Kurt muttered nervously.

The giant of a man rose to his full height and Kitty and Kurt started backing away. Nero stood his ground - not showing any emotion.

"Hello." Piotr said.

"Hey." Kitty said sheepishly.

"Guten Tag." Kurt said.

"Sorry about… you know." Piotr said.

"Ja, apology accepted und vere sorry about beating you up too." Kurt said.

"Apology accepted." Piotr said.

oOo

Piotr was led to his room and quickly closed the door - glad to be away from the untrusting teens. He put his bags down and changed. He was nervous. No-one seemed to like him much and still his Illyana hadn't arrived.

Illyana was his siter. She'd been held captive by Magneto in an unknown location for years and Xavier claimed to have found her. Xavier had assured him that it would be safe for her to stay at the Mansion, but Piotr disagreed she'd be surrounded by his old foes and he'd demanded to come along for her protection. Xavier had obviously been expecting this reaction and had already made plans for Piotr's arrival.

Of course, he'd only encountered Storm and some of the teenagers – they didn't seem very threatening. But he feared the reaction of some of the more ruthless individuals - god forbid what would happen when they confronted the Wolverine?

oOo

Once he'd set up all his stuff Piotr decided to go for a wander. He felt unwelcome walking around the grand halls and it was completely quiet in the big house.

Eventually he found his way down to the kitchen and was surprised by what he was faced with - a large furry blue monster in a lab coat eating toast and reading a newspaper.

"Evening." Hank said calmly.

Piotr nodded - nervously taking a seat at the table.

"The traffic's easing up. The students should be arriving soon." Hank said.

"Good." Piotr said, "Does this place have a… gym or anything?"

"A gym?" Hank laughed, "No. But, we've got something better. Follow me, I'll show you to the Danger Room."

oOo

Several hours of Danger Room training later and Piotr had forgotten his worries.

"I've never had so much fun training before." He said as he smashed in Magneto's head, "But, I'm sure in real life Magneto would be a stronger foe."

He dropped Magneto to the floor and the hologram around it faded as "Magneto" was reverted back into a drone.

"Please. I've got this thing on easy mode and you're still sweating so much that you're rusting!" Hank joked.

As the simulation ended Piotr laughed, "No wonder you guys always beat us."

"_Piotr."_ A voice sounded in his head, _"Don't worry - it's me, Xavier. I'm communicating to you via telepathy. Illyana is here."_

oOo

Piotr rushed out of the Danger Room and ran up several flights of stairs.

"Piotr!" He heard a call. He rushed forwards and hugged his little sister.

She seemed to have aged greatly from the six year old girl she'd once been. She was taller and her blonde hair had grown wildly. But her face was the same, those sparkling pure blue eyes still shone brightly.

"You've grown so much." Piotr said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Magneto used this machine to make my powers wrap around me. It sent me into Limbo. Time went differently – For me it's been about seven years! It's been far too long." Illyana cried.

"Yes," Piotr said, holding his sister tight, not willing to let go, "Yes, it has."

**A/N: **_Hope you enjoyed this. Please read and review._


	14. Never Met a Demon with a German Accent

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**Never Met a Demon with a German Accent**_  
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Kitty and Kurt watched as Colossus led the frail girl inside the mansion. Once they were gone the duo sat down outside and waited. Kitty was glad the giant was gone. She thought he was handsome, but he terrified her.

Kitty sat down next to Kurt and noticed he still had his hologram up. "So when are you, like, going to show the new girl what you really look like?"

Kurt looked at her and grinned before saying, "Right now."

oOo

Kurt teleported in front of Illyana and Piotr in the hallway – once again he was closer than he planned; he preferred to greet people from a distance at first. Piotr had ducked for cover again and was sheepishly changing back from his bullet-proof metal form.

"Guten Tag." Kurt said.

"Hello?" The girl said in a thick Russian accent.

"I suppose I should get dis over vit." Kurt sighed.

He turned off his watch to reveal his blue, fuzzy self and suddenly the girl let out a primeval scream. It seemed to echo around Kurt's skull; before he could react he found a large glowing blue sword sticking out of his rib cage.

He realised that the girl had drawn the sword from somewhere and stabbed him. Kurt realised that he should be dying – what an unexpected way to go!

But, nanoseconds passed and Kurt realise he felt no pain, just a cold chill where the blade went straight through him. Kurt felt panic rise inside him and quickly teleported away.

oOo

"I guess she didn't take it well." Kitty said.

"Vhat did you here?" Kurt answered frowning.

"Even I don't scream that loud!" Kitty laughed.

Kurt was still shaking.

"_Kurt!"_ A voice echoed in their minds, _"My office. Now!"_

"Gott in Himmel. I'm in so much trouble!" Kurt muttered as he teleported away.

oOo

Kurt arrived in Xavier's office. Piotr and Illyana were already there. She sat close to Piotr and was eyeing Kurt with a mixture of fear and anger – a primal mixture that made Kurt feel like she planned to stab him again.

He was as terrified of her as she was of him, he was still shaking and his tail swished nervously from side-to-side. He caught her gaze and saw he watch tail– as if she planned to cut it off.

Illyana herself feared that Kurt would whip around and stab the pointed tip of his tail through her throat.

"I'm very sorry." Kurt said to Illyana and Piotr hastily, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Illyana has been in a Limbo world for the past few years, she has met several… creatures and some of them look like you." Xavier explained calmly.

"Like demons?" Kurt muttered, knowing full well his appearance was distasteful to some.

"Yes." Xavier sighed, "Do you understand what you did was irresponsible?"

"Ja." Kurt said, "Und again, I'm very sorry."

"And Illyana, in future I'd prefer if you didn't stab my students." Xavier said.

"Sorry." The Russian girl muttered, "The sword wouldn't have hurt him, it only kills magical creatures, I thought he was a monster that maybe followed me through."

"Trust me," Xavier said, "We blocked off that place, only you can bring it back, so long as you don't want it here, nothing will get you."

"Yes professor." Illyana muttered, "I've never met a demon with a German accent anyway."

oOo

Kitty sat back on her bed and let her mixed up thoughts float freely. Two of her enemies were now waltzing around the mansion, the new girl had been carrying some sort of weapon, Kurt was too preoccupied sparring with Nero to have a proper conversation with her and who knew what other surprises lay ahead.

Then she heard a small knock on the door.

"Why'd you bother knocking when you're going to barge in anyway?" Kitty asked.

"My mother always told me it was polite to knock." Nero said.

"What'd you want?" Kitty asked.

"I can't talk to Kurt because the professor's having a go at him for scaring the new girl. Piotr's stopping her from talking to anyone else, but, I caught her name – Illyana. Storm and Beast are busy, so you're the only person left to talk to." Nero explained.

"Like, okay." Kitty said.

Kitty proceeded to tell him about her holiday – attempting to make it sound as exciting as possible. Kitty was amazed that he sat through the whole thing. People usually got fed up of her rambling on and usually stopped or interrupted. She was suspicious that he wasn't even listening – if he was he was being awfully patient because even she couldn't make her holiday sound very interesting.

Eventually she stopped and knew she probably shouldn't ask but did anyway, "So what about your holidays?"

Immediately Nero tensed up. "You don't have to answer, y'know." Kitty said.

"Thanks." Nero said.

Kitty decided she'd be patient, he'd tell her eventually – nobody could keep secrets for long in the mansion.

Suddenly the silence was interrupted by a shout from downstairs: "What on earth happened to the KITCHEN!"

"Sounds like the others are here." Nero said.

Nero smiled, Kitty realised it was very similar to the smile Kurt had given her before he'd teleported in front of Illyana earlier.

"Race you to the kitchen." Nero said, before doing a comedy dive into the shadow thrown by her bed.

She would have laughed, but she was too busy sinking through the floor – a huge grin on her face.

**A/N: **_Please R&R. I might be unable to update for a while, but stay posted._


	15. The Phoenix Mustn't Know

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**The Phoenix Mustn't Know**

Jean and Scott were staring agape at the massive hole in the kitchen wall when suddenly, Kitty dropped down through the ceiling.

"Who did that?" Scott asked Kitty, pointing to the hole.

"Nero." Kitty said innocently.

Before Scott could ask who that was Jean had been able to use a mixture of telepathy and guesswork to deduce that Nero was a new student, at that moment a thin young boy tumbled out from behind the fridge.

"I suppose you're responsible for this." Scott accused.

"Well, it was mainly Kurt's fault – he's the one that thought firecrackers would be a fun idea." Nero said, shrugging Scott off.

Jean nearly giggled – Scott was a little taken aback, but, he soon regained his composure. They'd been teaching students for a while now and had learnt that it was good to appear to have as much authority as possible when it came to new students.

"I suppose the professor's already told both of you off." Scott asked.

"That he has, Scott." Nero said.

"So… you're a telepath?" Scott asked.

"No." Nero admitted, "Kurt told me about you, I just guessed since you had the sunglasses on and everything that you must be Scott."

Jean nearly rolled her eyes; another troublemaker was the last thing any of them needed – they already had to face Bobby's antics.

"I'm Jean." She introduced herself, moving to shake her hand.

Nero suddenly recoiled, but quickly realised what he did wrong and quickly accepted Jean's hand.

Nero gritted his teeth to appear normal and try not to recoil again. He wasn't supposed to know Jean yet or what she'd become. He'd never met her until now, but, the stories he heard about her when he was young were horrific.

oOo

He'd first heard tales of the Phoenix when he was little – before Bolivar Trask had even escaped his cell in the S.H.E.I.L.D prison and before the Sentinels had destroyed the mansion.

He must have been only six when he was sneaking through the mansion's shadows and emerged behind one of the many grandfather clocks to hear some students telling scary stories.

He'd been terrified – he'd run crying to his mother who'd tried to console him. His father would tell him how Jean had been a good person who made bad choices. Neither of them had succeeded in stopping the fiery red bird inhabiting his nightmares.

Scott had thought that perhaps meeting Jean's daughter, Rachel could help overcome the nightmares –it didn't help a lot. Rachel's mysterious disappearance didn't help either.

The nightmares had eventually been replaced by memories – memories of the sentinels that'd come and killed everyone. Those had been worse, the faces of the dead and an image that'd never leave him – his father lying dead with Bastion's arm straight through his chest.

After Hank saved those he could and they joined the Morlocks before Hank led them to a secret bunker Xavier had set up years ago where they'd lived and expanded and eventually allowed sanctuary to mutants and humans alike. Evan began raids on the sentinels above – one of those raids had claimed his mother's life.

It'd been in those tunnels where Nero had found his latest memories – those that still riddled his sleep. He didn't know when it started, but, it was around the time Hank started building the time-disc. It always felt like a warning:

_The shadows that he'd once controlled were closing in on him – swallowing him up until he couldn't control them and he was consumed by darkness._

He was just glad these weren't real.

oOo

Nero snapped out of his memories to see that the others were already walking off.

"Aren't you, like, joining us?" Kitty asked, "See if you can guess who everyone else is?"

"Sure." Nero said, smiling broadly.

oOo

Jean, Scott, Nero and Kitty sat outside and Jean watched as Nero tried to guess who each of the students were from descriptions Kurt had given him. He got Jamie right straight away, the others he got right eventually, but he mixed up Ray and Roberto.

Jean was happy, she was no longer a student and had responsibility, but, she enjoyed the games her younger friends would play – they helped her take her mind off the crazy things that'd happened recently.

Eventually Scott went to call his brother, Alex. Jean sighed as Bobby started to walk up to them. There was bound to be trouble wherever Bobby went.

Seeing that the coast was clear of Scott, Bobby walked up to Nero and asked, "So what's your thing?"

"Watch this." Nero said.

The shadows thrown by the trees seemed to morph to his will and suddenly they sprang forth and wrapped themselves around his hand to form a broadsword that seemed to emit smoke.

"Nice!" Bobby said, "I do this."

He pointed his finger towards where Amara was walking and ice covered the path causing the poor girl to slip and fall on her backside. She just glared at Bobby and stormed off.

"I think she might pay you back for that one." Nero said, the sword in his hand disintegrating into smoky shadows that slunk back to their original places.

"Bobby," Jean said, adopting an authoritative tone, "that wasn't very nice."

"Come on Jean." Bobby said, "Lighten up, show him your power."

"That's really not necessary." Nero said. He was tensing up, but, no-one seemed to be noticing except Kitty.

"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to." Kitty said protectively. But, Bobby wasn't listening.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Jean said.

But, Sam and Ray had come over and were encouraging her.

"Go on," Sam said, "read his mind."

"Pretty please?" Bobby said with fake innocence.

Jean frowned, Bobby was either trying to get her to be nosey and tell him about the boy later or he was just trying to freak Nero out with all the crazy powers. Either way she was sure Nero could handle it/

"Fine." Jean muttered to Bobby. Bobby did a little celebration dance.

Jean didn't even bother to ask Nero before she dived into his head; she supposed she should just get it over with.

oOo

"_Hey there Nero, I guess you've already done this with the professor so you're kind of used to this. Just thought we'd do this quick and get it out of the way."_ Jean said inside Nero's mind.

She was shocked to be met with no reply. She carried on deeper into his brain to find almost all his thoughts blocked by a barrier – the professor's work no doubt.

Jean always respected people's privacy, but, she felt offended – these barriers weren't like any she'd ever seen – they were specifically built to stop her. The professor had built these blocks specifically for her. She felt mixed feelings.

She felt curious about what was so important that the professor should hide it and mostly she was angry – furious even that he didn't trust her enough with the information. She was meant to be a member of his staff now, she deserved to know.

She'd told the professor all her secrets when she'd first arrived at the mansion and recently she'd realised the professor was keeping secrets from everyone. She'd hoped he would trust her in time, but, it was obvious now he'd never let her in.

Rather rashly she decided to find out what the professor was hiding. She felt slightly guilty about the redecorating inside Nero's mind, as she started to tear and smash the barrier, but she was certain she could fix anything she broke.

She'd grown stronger over the holidays, much stronger and she found the barriers easier than Xavier had anticipated when he set them up. But, still they were formidable things.

The barriers seemed to be fighting back and Jean realised that it was Nero's consciousness trying to repair the barriers himself – his replacements where clumsy and not as well placed as Xavier's and slowly she tore them down too.

Jean realised with a start what she was doing was ethically wrong – the boy deserved his privacy, but, something stirred in Jean that urged her to keep going to find out what the professor thought that she shouldn't know and why.

oOo

By this point Kitty was getting worried.

"Why is it taking so long? And, like, why is she so concentrated that doesn't usually happen?" Kitty said nervously.

"He's zoned out too." Bobby said.

It was true, Nero's eyes were shut tight and he seemed to be muttering something to himself.

As Kitty got closer she heard that Nero was whispering to himself, "The Phoenix mustn't know. The Phoenix mustn't know."

Suddenly, the shadows seemed to start to dance in a choreographed fashion.

"Oh my god! Jean stop it now!" Kitty shouted.

Kitty was the only one that was prepared, she'd guessed from the kitchen wall that Nero's powers would act up when he was stressed and whatever Jean was putting him through was causing a lot of stress.

A fist of shadows exploded from the bushes and pushed Bobby, Sam and Ray away. Kitty managed to phase through the shadow fist.

Ray ran for the mansion doors, but, was blocked by a wall of shadow from the fountain, but before it could crush him it was held back by a wall of ice that Bobby made.

"Jean, please stop!" Kitty screamed as another shadow fist was launched randomly in her direction.

oOo

Jean managed to make a hole in the barrier for a couple of thoughts and memories to leak out. She felt a small sense of wicked satisfaction. But, it was soon replaced by guilt as she felt what Nero had felt his whole life.

Pain, anger and despair hiding beneath the surface all fighting to get out, she wanted to pull away, but, she couldn't seem to stop herself – the anguished thoughts seemed to be dragging her in.

She decided she had to know what was wrong with this boy, maybe she could help him, but at that moment Nero sent a thought at her so powerful and desperate that it knocked her out of his mind altogether.

oOo

Jean was on the ground, her nose was bleeding and she felt exhausted, but still Nero's thought reverberated around her skull:

_The Phoenix mustn't know!_

**A/N: **Sorry I don't update as often as I should. I won't bore you with excuses, but, rest assured I will update whenever I find the time. Please, R&R – it encourages me to keep going.


	16. Wolverine and Black Widow

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**Wolverine and Black Widow**

Logan was at S.H.I.E.L.D's minimum security prison – Bolivar wasn't seen as an immediate threat so he was never placed in maximum security. He found the place very shifty – you could never be quite sure who you could trust in these shady government organisations.

Logan had spun the tale Xavier had told him to tell Nick Fury, it was basically the same as Nero's except they left out the bit about time travel and just said Xavier saw it in his glimpses of the future.

As Logan had it, Bolivar would escape in four years time and go on to create Master Mold, who would become Nimrod who would create Bastion. Or was it Bastion who created Nimrod? Logan hadn't paid that close attention and didn't care what their names where so long as they were never created in the first place.

Logan had gone in to tell Fury about Bolivar's upcoming escape in four years time and act as "extra-security" for a while. However, what he didn't tell Fury was that Xavier had also sent him in to gather information on S.H.I.E.L.D's own Sentinel program in case they built Master Mold themselves.

oOo

Logan sat in an office they had provided him with. He looked over the plans – they had added in the latest security systems and all twelve armouries were fully packed. They'd also doubled the amount of security personnel. Logan was impressed, but, he'd never admit it.

There was or two things that he didn't like – the results of the background checks on the new guards for one thing. He found most of them probably deserved to be in the cells not guarding them, but, he knew the score – they were best there was at what they do, but, what they do isn't very nice.

The only people with the high enough training seemed to be guns-for-hire or ex-criminals that owed S.H.I.E.L.D. One was even an ex-Russian assassin who went by Black Widow. Logan doubted she was hired because of her sunny personality.

Suddenly, alarms started blaring. Logan ran to the main room as fast as he could.

"What's happening?" Logan bellowed.

"All the cells in block B have been opened – they've fought their way into one of the armouries, sir!" A snivelling computer worker explained.

Logan growled and ran at full pelt towards Cell Block B – that was where Bolivar was.

oOo

The criminals had got their hands on some of the weapons and already they were beating back S.H.I.E.L.D's guards.

However, when the Wolverine burst through the doors to Cell Block B with his claws fully outstretched and roaring like a madman several of the hardened criminals shrieked like little girls and at least one of them had wet themselves. Logan was glad his reputation was still intact among them.

Some of braver and more foolish ones ran towards Logan, but, the rest beat a hasty retreat out of the exit on the other side of the block. Although they had been armed with heavy weaponry, Logan shrugged off the assault and fought his way through eighteen of the idiots before the rest of them understood that it'd be a smarter idea to run away.

Logan quickly picked up Bolivar's scent – he raced in that direction, but, found that thirty criminals were waiting around the corner hoping to come across a guard. Logan snarled; he didn't have time for this – he had to find Bolivar now!

Suddenly, a woman with long red hair and clad in a tightly-fitting black uniform dropped from the ceiling, landing perfectly on two of the men – knocking them to the floor. She proceeded to perform a roundhouse kick to floor three more

Before the remaining twenty five criminals could regain their focus, Logan launched himself towards them – taking down fourteen in a flurry of rage and claws. When he'd finished, he found all of the others had been taken down by the other woman – except one.

Logan could tell from the smell this was the man that'd wet himself. The man decided to go for broke and charged towards the woman, who dropped and delivered a kick to the fools shins – their was a disturbing cracking noise made by the man's leg and he sunk to the ground.

"Thank you." Logan nodded towards the woman.

The Black Widow nodded before she ran off after the rest of the criminals.

Logan went back to trying to pick up Bolivar's scent, but, it had vanished at the corner he was on, he didn't understand it. He could have only been gone a couple of minutes – how'd the trail go cold so quickly.

oOo

Reviewing the CCTV footage, Logan realised that six of the new guards – mercenaries by the looks of them – had used their new access passes to open the armoury and release the prisoners. One had guided Bolivar out and to the corner where he sprayed Bolivar with a substance that must have masked his scent.

Logan punched the desk in frustration. This meant not only had he failed, but if Nero was right, the entire human and mutant race was now at risk.

**A/N: **_I got the week off so hopefully I should be able to update more often. Hopefully. I know this isn't my best one. Please R&R._


	17. We'll Face It Together

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**We'll Face It Together**

Jean woke up in the mansion's medical wing. She remembered it back when it was just a small, dimly-lit room with a first aid kit and some bandages – that had to be changed pretty quickly and now they had the equivalent of a hospital on site, complete with the latest technology and equipment.

She had been carried to a medical bed with Scott, her nose bleeding and her head ringing, she remembered Bobby thinking, "_The bloodshed's started early this year."_

When they'd laid her down she felt like a part of her was fighting within itself, as if it was trying to tear its way out of her head, then the professor had rolled in and laid her mind at rest, convincing her to sleep as he sent her soothing thoughts.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she touched her head lightly it was still ringing. She tried to remember how she ended up there, but, couldn't quite remember. She remembered trying to read Nero's mind and then it was blank; she concentrated trying to remember what it was that Nero had done – she thought back but all she could think of was the soul-crushing feeling of pain and anger she'd got from him. She continued to search her mind for the answers, but, found nothing, it had hurt too much; it had felt as if her head was burning. The professor must have taken some of that away to stop the pain.

She thought harder and she heard a whisper, that's right Nero had thought something so powerful that it had knocked her out of his brain, she tried to think what it was – trying to remember was an odd sensation, the more she tried to concentrate the more her head felt hot, almost as if fire was blazing in the back of her mind…

"…_mustn't know!"_

Those two words seemed to slowly echo around her head, the professor must have removed the first part of the sentence by accident when he was helping her rest, but, she figured it was something that Nero had been hiding from her, it was making her curious.

oOo

Suddenly, the door opened and Xavier wheeled in. He had a stern look on his face and Scott walked in behind him, he rushed over to Jean and gave her a hug.

"Professor," Scott said, "What did that boy do to here. Is he dangerous?"

"Sit down and listen." Xavier sighed. It was obvious he wasn't in a good mood.

Jean sat back down on the bed and Scott pulled a chair over. Xavier sighed again, rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, "I suppose you'd best know the truth too, it's best if I don't treat you like children anymore. The boy, Nero, is from the future and I'll tell you now it's not pretty."

Xavier went on to explain Nero's upbringing in the underground civilisation. Jean and Scott just listened in horror. Jean realised now why Xavier had to set up those barriers, she shuddered to think what her reaction would have been if she'd had to witness this post-apocalyptic future. When Xavier had finished telling them of the Sentinels uprising, Scott and Jean sat in silence, not sure how to react; Scott reached over and squeezed Jean's hand tightly.

"Now, I think Nero deserves to have some privacy and maybe he'll finally be allowed to act like a child again. It's best if you don't tell the other students about this future he's predicted or about where Nero comes from either, if they must know say his name is Jack Daniels and that he's committed a few crimes or something." Xavier said.

Jean nodded; she felt a great amount of sympathy for the boy. He deserved to act normal – well as normal as a mutant's life can get. She looked at Scott and saw him frowning.

"What's the matter?" Jean asked.

"Nothing," Scott said, "but, isn't Jack Daniels a brand of whiskey?"

Xavier chose to ignore Scott's comment and said, "I'm sure you can handle things without me for a while; I have received some disturbing news from Logan that I must deal with immediately."

"What!" Scott exclaimed, "You're leaving?"

"Yes, It would appear our efforts to stop Bolivar Trask's escape have only resulted in… his escape." Xavier explained, embarrassed, "Logan and I are going to find him, I'll be spending most of my time on Cerebro or with S.H.I.E.L.D. but, you should be able to manage things around here. Ororo will be conducting therapy sessions with the boy. It might be best if we don't tell him of Trask's escape."

Scott frowned again, but nodded and said, "Good luck, professor."

Xavier gave small smile and wheeled out of the room.

"God." Jean said quietly, "We're all going to be, wiped out – just like that?"

She could feel tears forming in her eyes as she looked up at Scott; Scott moved over to sit beside her on the bed, "No, Jean," he said, "I won't let that happen."

"What can we do to stop it?" Jean cried, tears running freely down her cheeks.

"I don't know," Scott said gently brushing the tears from her cheeks, "but, whatever the future brings we'll face it together."

He held her close and kissed her passionately.

**A/N: **_Yes, I'm back. So sorry it's been a long time, I just hope you're all still there. I'm determined to finish this (some day) and the updates are going to be odd at times I know, but, remember the more reviews I get the more inspired I feel. So, please R&R_


	18. Stab In The Dark

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**Stab in the Dark**

As Nero slept off the psychic siege his mind had just endured he was met with the same dreams as ever… the nightmarish day the Sentinels had attacked the Institute. He witnessed it all again, he'd been seven-years-old and had been happily playing with the other kids when the mechanical monstrosities flew into view. Then there were blasts of heat and as the building was immersed in smoke then there was just blood, the blood of friends, family and teachers alike.

The worst part of all was when was he saw his own father emerge from the smoke into the room he'd been cowering in, Bastion's arm through his chest, he'd bled out on the floor slowly, crying out for his son, his wife, his friends... nobody came – Nero was too scared to move and as he watched his father fade and tears streamed down his face he'd sunk into the shadows.

He'd stayed in his cocoon-like limbo between earth and wherever that dark void led to. He was everywhere and nowhere; he still wasn't sure exactly what he passed through when he shadow-walked, but, he knew it wasn't a pleasant place – sometimes he would hear spine-chilling howls of far-off animals and obviously he'd seen a few of those small purple dragon-creatures. He'd always been afraid of this dark netherworld, but, it seemed almost tranquil compared to the chaos he'd left behind, then he heard his mother call out to him, he moved towards the noise cautiously and crawled from the shadows to find his mother hiding in the sewers with Hank. She was crying uncontrollably and Nero could only join in her grief.

oOo

Then the dream changed to something new; it appeared Jean's bombardment had lifted one of his long-forgotten memories:

It was during his days in the underground world that humanity had been confined to. He could only have been about twelve, his was walking through the dimly-lit passageways quickly, he could have got to his destination instantly via the shadows, but, he enjoyed walking alongside Andrea, she had been about fourteen if he remembered correctly.

The walked in silence, but, they seemed happy in each others company, finally Andrea's curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "Go on then, who is it that's causing trouble this time?"

Nero smiled wickedly and said, "Stabber."

Andrea sighed, "You just love ruining my day don't you?"

Nero had laughed at that; they'd had to deal with Stabber in the past. To keep order in the underground community several of the remaining X-men and many well-trained humans who'd survived the sentinel uprising had worked to split the tunnels, caverns and bunkers between them to try and keep the crime in their little world to a minimum, unfortunately, when you've lost everything people try to reclaim something for themselves, crime is usually the easiest and quickest way to do just that.

Stabber was different though, from what Nero had heard, Stabber had once been an upstanding citizen, a normal human with no mutant powers, then when the Sentinels attacked, he somehow managed to lock himself in a bunker which happened to be full of the illegal drug, _Kick_, which gave normal humans mutant powers for a temporary period of time or it increased the powers of someone who was already a mutant, when they'd dug a tunnel to him they found that he'd been living off the stuff and was addicted to it, they'd destroyed the stash, but, he always seemed to know where to find more.

Taking the name Stabber he'd used the drug to craft henchmen out of mutant-hating humans that blamed the mutants for the creation of the sentinels in the first place. Nero loathed those sorts of people, the ones that blamed mutants for everything; they'd lost just as much if not more than they had and the only people to blame were themselves – but humans could never stand to blame themselves.

Stabber had been causing a lot of trouble recently, responsible for the deaths of three mutants in what had to be classified as "Gang Violence" however everyone knew it was cold-blooded murder.

Nero and Andrea soon approached Stabber's cavern – he'd taken over the biggest one in that sector that wasn't inhabited by people skilled enough to teach him a lesson he sorely needed.

"Remember the plan?" Andrea asked one last time. She raised a thin eyebrow at him, glaring at him with her deep ruby red eyes.

Nero nodded angrily, he hated it when Andrea looked at him like he was a kid, sure he was a couple of years younger than her, but he wasn't _that_ naive. Andrea smiled when she saw the frustrated look on his face and she gave him a quick smirk before she walked out into the cavern.

Stabber's guards shone their spotlights on her, Nero made sure to stick to the shadows and out of sight.

"What the heck do you want?" shouted one of the voices.

"Please," a soft, silky smooth voice said, "that's not how we treat customers. Is it?"

Nero shivered; Stabber himself strode in with his two heavily armed body guards.

Kicker was a tall, slim man with immaculate blonde hair and a healthy-looking tan, but, had dark rings under his eyes and they were blood-shot beyond belief. The tan was picked up from some tanning booth he'd stole down from the land above in the early days of the Sentinel attack. At his side was the rusty old dagger that urban myth said Stabber had used to kill 200 mutants with. Nero had read the file, it was more like 7; Stabber was never good at his own dirty work.

"Is the little lady wanted a bit of a Kick?" Stabber asked, smiling greedily.

Andrea nodded. "Why else would I be here?" She asked with a grin.

"Oh," Stabber said, "you think I'm stupid, do you little lady? You'd not be the first one of those infuriating mutants that thinks they can steal my stash."

"If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't walk right up to your front door now would I?" Andrea pointed out.

Nero realised with a start that Andrea was now toying with the crooks, trying to get them to second-guess her, he hated it when she did that; it was way too risky, but, she was quite skilled at it, she said she'd picked it up from her father.

Nero sunk into his shadows and appeared on the other side of the cavern where Stabber had arranged a neat pile of his stash, complete with a fancy armchair atop it. Nero tried not to laugh; it was typical egomaniacal behaviour, Stabber saw himself as a king and he even had a throne to go with it. Nero reached into the shadows and started snapping his fingers; soon he felt a familiar leathery creature brush against his hand.

"Or maybe I am a mutant!" Andrea told Stabber, continuing her little distraction, "So, I could act as a diversion while my accomplice set your stash on fire."

Nero cursed her under his breath – he was going to have to rush this. His hand grabbed the leathery beast in the shadows and forcibly pulled it out and threw it into the cavern; it unleashed a breath of flame that set the pile of Kick alight. The dragon was in distress, it unleashed fire all over the cavern causing confusion and panic as one of the guards cut fire, Nero.

Nero managed to catch and throw the small lizard back into the shadows and looked over to see Stabber shouting in rage at Andrea, Nero could no longer hear him over the roar of the fire that had started, but, he seemed to be threatening her.

Andrea just smiled sweetly and vanished – Nero knew she'd choose to use her invisibility power sooner or later, the power was regarded as "weak" by some, but, Nero knew that it wasn't her powers that made Andrea so dangerous. He watched as one of the guards suffered a roundhouse kick to the head from the invisible assailant.

Nero laughed and vanished into his shadows.

oOo

He'd waited for her by the rendezvous, but when she hadn't showed up for an hour he grew restless and returned to the cavern to find it deserted. He was panicked, but, used what little Logan could be bothered to teach him about tracking to follow the boot imprints to a locked bunker door – he used the shadows to get inside and hid in the corner.

It was a small bunker full of men looking at a large podium, atop it stood Stabber.

"Now I'm sure you're here to see your daily blood bath, but, the cage fights will be replaced by something a little different today." Stabber said, ignoring the groaning.

Some people booed and Stabber nodded to one of his guards, Nero saw it was the one who'd been kicked in the face; he was missing his two front teeth. The guard fired a shot at one of the hagglers who fell dead, the room fell silent again and a few people nearby quickly looted the dead body for valuables.

"Instead we've a much more prosperous idea to present to you," Stabber continued. "We've got ourselves a mutant, so shall we begin the auction?"

Cheering suddenly sprung up from the crowd. Nero could hear several men bidding, but, they weren't bidding on Andrea... they were bidding on her internal organs; some fools believed that if they were transplanted into your body then you would gain the mutants power, Nero had never seen any proof this worked as almost all of them died during the operation due to unhygienic back-street surgeons.

Once the bidding was over Stabber called out, "Settle down! Before we cut the girl open, let it never be said that I'm an unfair man, I call for a trial."

They brought out Andrea, they'd tied her hands and placed a bag over her head and Nero wasn't sure why she wasn't disappearing, then he noticed the chains she was in, Leech chains. Many years ago Forge had designed chains to hold powerful and dangerous mutants by using the powers of a young boy called Leech, unfortunately the humans had used the chains to make it easy to kill targets instead– they would neutralize the powers of any mutant that touched them.

"Are you a mutant?" Stabber asked.

"Depends," Andrea said stubbornly, "will that get me out alive?"

"No, that'll get you dead," Stabber said, "and if you're insolent again, I'll kill you anyway."

Stabber took the bag of her face to reveal her bruised face and drew his blade to place it against Andrea's neck.

"Do you deny being a mutant?" he asked.

Andrea spat in Stabber's face. Nero cursed under his breath again. Stabber calmly wiped the spit from his face and turned to his audience, brandishing his weapon, "Let the blood spill!"

Suddenly, Nero was grabbed by the shoulder, somebody had snuck up on him and he hadn't even noticed.

"I know you!" The voice bellowed around the hall. Nero looked up to see the man's body was covered in bandages, but his eyes were still fierce, it looked like the man had been heavily burnt recently, "You did this to me!"

Nero suddenly remembered that this man had been the one who'd caught fire when he'd let the dragon loose. "We've got another one back here!" The man shouted to Stabber.

There was jeering and shouts from the crowd as they turned on Nero, they moved towards him, their shadows blocking out the light. The shadows of living people – the only ones Nero dared not control. The moved towards him faster and faster, the thought of execution forgotten; they wanted to beat him to death!

Nero tried to sink into the shadows in the corner, but, the burned man had a firm hold of him and flung the first punch as it came towards him Nero could almost feel the shadows in the room slinking towards the dim light-bulbs, preparing to consume him. As the burnt man's fist filled his view Nero blacked out.

oOo

Nero could hear screaming, the screams of fully-grown men crying for their mother's, begging for mercy, pleading to be spared whatever torture they were enduring. Nero was powerless to stop it. He sat and listened, willing it to stop eventually he heard a voice,

"_Nero,"_ it echoed, _"Wake up…"_

oOo

His eyes opened slowly and he remembered the fists flying towards him, he reached for his face, but, was surprised to find no bruise. His eyes adjusted to the dim light to see Andrea staring at him, he smiled, she wasn't dead, and neither was he! Or maybe they were both dead and this was that place his father always used to talk about. Nero could hardly remember the word... wasn't it _Haven _or something?

He frowned when he saw Andrea wasn't smiling back. "Are you all right?" She asked.

"Yes," Nero croaked; his throat was dry, "what happened?"

"You don't remember?" She asked, still frowning.

Nero shook his head. Andrea stared at him for a good long while and seemed distant. In the end she just nodded.

"Good." Andrea sighed.

She offered him her hand and he took it, an odd tingle went across his skin when he touched her, it always happened when people came into contact with Andrea, it was the ghostly remains of her mother's own power and it made most people uncomfortable, but Nero thought it just tickled. He did however find it odd that she was shaking slightly...

He stood up and gasped; he was still in the room, but all the men were dead. The burnt man, the guard missing his front teeth and even Stabber lay dead, none of them had a scratch on them, nor bruising. Nero went over to Stabber and could swear he saw a black liquid trickle from the dead man's nose, but, when he looked back it had seemed to fade away.

He wondered what had happened and feared he'd had some part in the deaths of them all, they may have been murderous mutant-hunters, but most of them had families, they'd be children wondering why their father never came home or mother's mourning the loss of their sons and daughters.

Nero sighed, he really hoped whatever had killed those people wouldn't back.

oOo

When they'd returned to base they'd been debriefed separately. Andrea first, Nero could hear the voices of Andrea, Hank, Logan and Laura, Andrea shouted something and stormed out, ignoring Nero as she left.

Nero turned to walk in the room; he walked in and gave his report. Hank hung his head, gripping the table as he listened, Nero was distressed to see a look of… disappointment on the face of the man who'd cared for him for half his life. Logan simply sat in the chair and listened, nodding at intervals sagely, his expression unreadable. Laura did the same, Nero knew she didn't even mean to copy Logan, it just happened sometimes.

Nero finished his story and felt incredibly uncomfortable. "You really don't remember anything?" Logan asked.

"No." Nero had replied.

Logan just nodded, Hank shook his head and Laura seemed emotionless almost as if she was undecided or simply didn't care.

"Get some sleep, take tomorrow off to recover." Logan said and he walked out like that was it.

"Logan," Hank said angrily, "a word."

Hank followed Logan out and Nero was left with Laura staring at him intently.

"What?" Nero asked her, immediately wishing he hadn't.

"Just wondering if you're an asset," She said, her gaze never wavering, "Or a threat."

And Nero knew Logan was doing exactly the same thing.

oOo

Things had carried on as normal after that, except, he'd see some people whisper and point at him as he walked by and Andrea had never been quite as friendly as she'd used to be, sometimes she'd forget herself and smile or even laugh, but when he caught her gaze, those ruby red eyes would look away and her smile would falter, in fact she seemed to avoid him when she could.

Nero had long guessed that he had been somehow responsible for what took place in that bunker, the shadows moving towards the light-bulbs would have left only darkness, Nero found that he struggled to control complete darkness and weaker shadows were much simpler. Nero supposed he must have lost control and somehow killed all those people.

He wasn't sure if that made him scared or confident.

One thing he was certain of, Andrea had never looked at him like he was a kid ever again...

**A/N: **Now, I know my updates are a bit erratic... okay, they're completely random, but, I really feel a lot of support for this story, so, I'll keep going and do as much as I can. I wrote this one a while back and I made it even longer because I felt guilty about leaving you all hanging. When I feel encouraged I update and I've been getting good supportive reviews and messages - thank you.

Anyway, better get back to studying... *sigh*


	19. A Pleasant View

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing except my OCs._

**A Pleasant View**

Nero's eyes snapped open.

He sat up suddenly and put his head in his hands to stop himself feeling too dizzy. He took several deep breathes, when Jean had been probing his mind he'd felt like he'd been drowning.

"Where am I?" Nero asked his voice barely more than a whisper.

"You're back in the hospital ward." A familiar reassuring voice said.

The giant blue man sitting in the corner looking up from his newspaper and smiled kindly before he said, "Xavier asked me to keep an eye on you in case you had any damage. I'll just have to run some tests."

"Thanks Hank." Nero said, dropping his head back down onto the pillow.

Hank got up and shone a light into his eyes before going over to a computer in the corner, after a few minutes he said, "Everything seems in order, but, you might have a headache for some time."

Nero nodded and immediately regretted it as the dull throb of pain returned.

"I'm not certain what it was you did to tick Jean off so much, but, I'll give you some good advice." Hank said, "Don't do it again."

Nero chuckled, he used to get lots of advice from Hank, but, it used to be on survival tips and how to fix machinery.

Nero suddenly felt very awkward; it hadn't been _this_ Hank that'd given him that advice, it had been a Hank from the _future_, a future which now – hopefully – never existed. Nero never thought he'd miss that horrible hole in the ground he'd called home, but, the thought that _future _Hank, who'd been like a father to him, never existed, that hurt.

_Present_ Hank went back to his newspaper and picked it up, he turned and said, "I'll tell Kurt and Kitty you're feeling better. They're off together somewhere."

"Um... actually Hank, I'd like some alone time," Nero said, "If that's alright?"

"Of course." Hank said, leaving.

Nero sat back and let his thoughts wander through everything he'd done since he arrived here; when he'd planned it out everything had seemed so straight-forward, so simple and now things seemed to be getting out of hands. Letting Jean realise what she would become would be catastrophic, and would likely cause her powers to freak out early.

He remembered back to when _his_ Hank had presented the time machine to the others, when Nero and Hank were done Andrea had walked up to Nero and placed a hand on Nero's shoulder.

"Nero," She'd asked, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"I hope so," Nero had said, "I really hope so."

oOo

Gambit looked around his new room. It was bare apart from the dresser, wardrobe and bed with one window, but, at least the view was pleasant enough. It looked down on the front of the mansion and he could see the students arriving in their cars. He observed those arriving, but, the one who he was searching for hadn't shown up yet.

Gambit dumped his large duffel bag on the bed – he'd been living with only the items within this bag for the past few months, too afraid to settle anywhere long enough for Magneto and his cronies to track him down.

He opened up the bag and took out its contents; there wasn't a lot – some bathroom appliances and clothes. There was also a letter that had ended up at the bottom. Remy frowned; he'd sworn he'd thrown that away.

He sighed and opened the letter to read it by the light from the window once more:

_To Remy, my son_

_I know you hate my guts and quite rightly so, but, family is family. I understand with this business about mutants on the news that you've probably gone into hiding, but, keep in mind, your father is always here if you need to lie low for a few months – who knows, you might even be able to help me with a few dead-beats who owe me money?_

_From your father, Jean Luc_

_P.S.: If you do decide to visit, make sure you bring that little girlfriend of yours. The pale one that helped out with those Rippers, and maybe that one that could control the weather, I'd sure love to get better acquainted._

Remy shook his head – Jean Luc's attempts to use him for his own selfish ends had no boundaries, he couldn't believe that he'd even considered going to stay with his father after all he'd put him through. Gambit screwed up the letter and threw it, purposefully bouncing it off the wall and onto the dresser, where it rolled off and landed directly into the wastepaper bin that was set beside it.

With little else to do Gambit looked out the window again, his red and black eyes darting from one face to another, hoping to find who he was looking for. Finally, he saw a taxi pull up and a young girl step out, she was pale and dressed in green and black, he smiled and watched her from the window...

The view had just become a whole lot more pleasant.

oOo

Kurt let Illyana and Piotr spend some time on their own, they still made him feel on edge, well, the girl _had _stabbed him with a magic sword not too long ago, but, Kurt felt that overall the siblings weren't bad, despite previous encounters with Piotr.

He heard somebody humming, looking out the window, he saw Kitty sitting in a tree, trying to write on her laptop. Kurt allowed himself a little chuckle as he teleported onto the branch next to her.

Kurt was sure the loud noise was enough to scare her but he shouted out, "BOO!" to be extra certain.

Kitty shrieked only at that pitch that only Kitty could ever reach, but, to Kurt's horror she fell! Kurt quickly teleported to the bottom, waiting to catch Kitty, instead she phased straight through his arms and into the ground.

Kurt looked down at the ground quizzically, before he felt someone tap his shoulder, he spun around to see Kitty fuming behind him.

"Kurt?" She yelled, "Why'd you do that?"

"Sorry, Kitty," Kurt said sheepishly, "I didn't expect you to fall."

"Whatever," Kitty said, taking up a safer sitting position below the tree, "Can you get my laptop down?"

Kurt teleported back up the tree, picked up her laptop that was perched on the branch and teleported back down, placing the laptop at Kitty's feet.

"Vhat are you writing anyvay?" Kurt asked.

"It's a diary," Kitty said, "and it's private."

"Vell, sorry!" Kurt said mockingly, "Now who's not spending time with whom?"

"I never said that!" Kitty said.

"No," Kurt said, "but, you were thinking it!"

"Did... did you read this?" Kitty asked him.

"I didn't need to," Kurt laughed, "As soon as you saw I'd made a new friend it was written all over your face!"

Kitty felt herself turning red, so she quickly changed the subject and said, "Yeah? Well your friend got himself and Jean sent to the hospital ward."

"Vhat?" Kurt exclaimed, his larking replaced with concern, "Gott in Himmel, vhat did he do now?"

"How should I know?" Kitty said, "Jean tried to read his mind, they had a bit of a staring competition and then his powers freaked out."

"Are they alright?" Kurt asked.

"Yes." Kitty said, turning back to her dairy.

She had a few moments of silence before Kurt said, "Vait a minute! Don't change the subject! You're jealous!"

Kitty slapped her laptop cover closed and said, "I am not!"

"Oh you so are!" Kurt laughed gleefully, "Green with jealousy. You can't blame Nero, it's not his fault that I'm so popular. But, fear not, the fuzzy dude has time for everyone."

"Wha' are you two bickering about now?" a voice asked.

Kurt and Kitty looked over to see Rogue walking over.

"Sis!" Kurt shouted teleporting over for a hug, which Rouge begrudgingly accepted once she was certain Kurt wasn't touching any skin.

Kitty suddenly remembered Gambit and said, "Oh, Rogue there's something we'd better tell you before-"

"Too late." Kurt said.

Kurt pointed over to Gambit, who was sauntering over to them, the other students looked over at Remy with suspicion, but, nobody moved to attack him... yet.

"Wha' the hell are ya doin' here?" Rogue asked, frowning with her fists clenched.

Gambit arrived and raised an eyebrow, "Ah, mon chere. It is a pleasure to see you too."

"The professor's given him asylum from Magneto." Kitty said.

"So," Rogue said to Gambit, "Ya hidin' behin' school kids, now? That's low even for you, Remy."

"Now, now, mon chere, we both know you don't mean that," Gambit said, "Aren't you just a little bit pleased to see me?"

Rogue turned away, but, Kitty noticed her pale cheeks were going red. Kitty wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or anger. But, then Rogue shook her head and frowned stubbornly. She pushed past Gambit and walked on into the mansion.

"Adieu." Gambit said to Kitty and Kurt, before taking off after Rogue.

"Creep." Kurt said.

"Well," Kitty said, "I think it's kind of sweet."

"You vouldn't be saying zat if it vas you're sister." Kurt muttered.

"Well," Kitty said, "Rogue's got to learn to lighten up some time, besides she's not even your real sister. She's like, a... foster-sister."

"I don't care," Kurt said, "That Gambit guy's bad news, no matter what Xavier says. Colossus is okay and Illyana is too... vhen she isn't trying to kill me, but, I don't trust Gambit."

Kitty just shook her head and opened her laptop again.

"Oh," Kurt said, "I almost forgot! You're jealous!"

"Knock it off!" Kitty said, throwing a stick at him.

Kurt laughed as he teleported away.

Finally, Kitty thought, some peace and quiet.

Suddenly her phone rang, she snapped it open.

"Whoever this is better have a really good reason for calling!" Kitty yelled.

"Um... well, I can call back later if you want?" Lance's voice said down the phone.

"No!" Kitty shouted, "I... I didn't mean that. Just, some of the guys here have been driving me a bit crazy."

"Well, do you want to meet up later, then? You know... hang out?" Lance asked.

"Sure." Kitty said.

oOo

"Hey, Lance, who're talking to?" Toad asked.

"None of your business!" Lance said angrily in a hushed voice, turning away from the phone.

"Is it Kitty-Kat?" Toad asked.

"I said it's none of your business!" Lance replied.

"It's Kitty-Kat." Toad said to Blob.

Blob just sighed and shook his head.

"So..." Lance continued, "Where do you want to meet?"


End file.
